Recently our inside sales manager took a trip to Jorgenson Machine Tool in Salt Lake City Utah for a FMA press brake course. FMA Website Link This is to ensure that all of our sales team are fully knowledgeable in the equipment and tools that we sell. During this course many different topics on the press brake were discussed. Ranging from bend functions, press brake tooling to press brake safety. The following is a brief overview of the whole trip –
The instructor for this course was Steve Benson who is the President of ASMA and is a member of the FMA Precision Sheet Metal Technology Council. He has written numerous textbooks and software for the industry. A most notable work of his is “The Art of Press Brake”. From our brief two day course you could already tell that Steve was full useful knowledge of every aspect of the press brake and tooling. He let us know right from the beginning that this course is also taught to the United States Military that is spread out over two weeks and that this course would be very crunched together in order to gain the full picture of what was needing to be discussed.
The first day of this two day course we started off with the bend functions – We discussed the mathematics behind the bend radiiand how it all relates the forming on the press brake. Then from there we went on to the flat patterns and how blueprint interpretation for layouts and forming interact. There are many types of machines and forming methods when dealing with the press brake. Two of the main types that were discussed were the mechanical brake as well as the more currently used hydraulic press brake. One of the Main safety aspects to think about when talking about these two types of machines is the cycle. Mechanical machines have to fully go through the cycle before you can stop the machine. Where a hydraulic brake you may be able to stop the cycle mid way through.
The start of the second day was discussions on types of press brake punches and dies. With the different types discussed we also went over the proper tooling selection, tonnages and load limits to ensure that the correct tooling is used. With there being many types of tooling and usages custom tooling quotes were also discussed to ensure that a customer could get the correct bends and angles that they were seeking to do on a job. After discussing the forming order and bottom bending applications came SAFETY. Safety with press brakes are getting alot better than in the past. Newer machines have many safety items attached to the machines. Our host JMT had a few of their press brakes out for viewing in their showroom. Safety is a MAJOR point of emphasis when dealing with press brakes. After carefully going over this sections we then were tasked with accomplishing an assessment test for the certificate. During the two day certification course you should come out with a lot more useful information than going into this course.
I hope you enjoyed the brief overview of this trip. If you have any questions about this trip or would like more information about this course please contact Ryan Ross at 425-513-8263